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Southeast Missourian

Rush Limbaugh posthumously inducted to Florida Broadcasters Hall of Fame

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By Christopher Borro ~ Southeast Missourian
Friday, July 5, 2024
Rush Limbaugh reacts as his wife, Kathryn, applauds as President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Feb. 4, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Limbaugh was posthumously named to the Florida Broadcasters Hall of Fame on Thursday, June 27, 2024, having lived in the state the last 25 years of his life and recording numerous editions of his talk show there.
Patrick Semansky, Associated Press, file

Rush Limbaugh III, the late political commentator, talk show host and Cape Girardeau native, was posthumously honored by the Florida Association of Broadcasters (FAB) last week as part of its inaugural class for the Florida Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

Limbaugh was one of 10 inductees. His brother, David Limbaugh, accepted the honor on his behalf during an awards ceremony on Thursday, June 27, at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.

“I am gratified that Rush’s radio legacy is so well established that he continues to be honored after his death,” David Limbaugh said. “I still receive outpourings of support and expressions of good will and love from Rush’s fans. It is truly remarkable.”

Inductees were chosen based on their professional careers as they related to the State of Florida, having devoted a minimum of 25 years to the broadcasting industry. They were also chosen as examples of achievement, innovation, integrity and leadership.

Limbaugh recorded his "The Rush Limbaugh Show" talk show from a studio near his home in Palm Beach for more than a decade. He called the state home from 1996 until his death in 2021. The show first aired in 1984 and was nationally syndicated from 1988 until shortly after Limbaugh’s death.

“Rush is universally acknowledged in the radio industry as the ‘GOAT’,” David Limbaugh said, referring to the acronym for "greatest of all time". “He single-handedly resurrected AM talk radio, and so his impact was felt as much in Florida as in the rest of the nation. ... He was a trailblazer in the industry.”

Rush Limbaugh’s talk show, at its peak, aired on more than 650 stations nationwide. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1993 and the National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1998. His brother said he would have appreciated the FAB honor immensely.

Also honored as part of the introductory Florida Broadcasters Hall of Fame class were Ann Bishop, the first female news anchor in the country; Bernie and Edith Waterman, presidents of Waterman Broadcasting; FAB president Pat Roberts; Tampa Bay Buccaneers announcer Gene Deckerhoff; George Beasley, founder of Beasley Media Group; Johnny Magic, host of Johnny’s House Morning Show; Dick Lobo, president of the WTVJ station; and Bill Brooks, general manager of the WPTV station.

Nominees for the hall of fame were decided on by employees of FAB member stations and selected by the Florida Broadcasters Selection Committee.

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